In the round-up: Sebastian Vettel is sad to say farewell to Suzuka for the last time.
In brief
Vettel “sad to have driven my last race” at Suzuka
Vettel enjoyed a strong final visit to Suzuka. He reached Q3 and despite spinning off at the start an aggressive strategy helped him equal Aston Martin’s best finish of the season with sixth place, beating Fernando Alonso by a tenth of a second.“I got a very good start but then I collided with another car at the first corner,” he said of his tangle with Fernando Alonso at turn one. “I really could not see anything – I am not sure, maybe I aquaplaned or I made a mistake – but I lost all the positions I had gained and ended up last.”
An early switch to intermediate tyres was a “good decision”, said Vettel. “It was a great stop, then I pushed like crazy and managed to undercut most of the field.”
He described his final appearance at Suzuka as an F1 driver as “a dream weekend – for us to score eight points is a mega result.
“I feel sad to have driven my last race here, but it has been a wonderful weekend, and to all the fantastic Suzuka fans I can only say, ‘Thank you’.”
Haas got strategy wrong, Steiner admits
Haas delayed its pit stops for both drivers and paid the price as both failed to score. Team principal Guenther Steiner admitted “we were caught on our back foot today with the strategy.”
“We were too reactive and not proactive, and we ended up down the classification,” he explained. “It’s very difficult to make these decisions as we all know, and afterwards we’re always smarter with hindsight. We’ll review what we did and see that we do better next time.”
F4 USA and Formula Regional Americas announce 2023 calendars
The US Formula 2 and Formula Regional Americas will share six race weekends in 2023. They will race at NOLA Motorsports Park, Road America, Mid-Ohio, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Virginia International Raceway and Circuit of the Americas.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Verstappen's class the only certainty on 'confusing and weird' day for F1 (BBC)
'Guess who wrote the new rule that has now been exposed so publicly? Masi, before he was relieved of his post over the winter.'
Verstappen has been a key advisor to de Vries (Daily Mail)
'‘Obviously, we are from a similar era, he is a little bit younger than me but we grew up in karting, we are both Dutch and the way he was approaching racing with his father, driving around in a van though Europe, I think was very much like ours.'
Kanaan looking for team for 22nd Indy 500 start next May (IndyCar)
'You can’t beat experience. Look at the way I approached the race this year. You know, more or less, how the race is going to go. You know when you need to go. That doesn’t mean you can make it happen.'
Five key moments on de Vries’ road to F1 (F2)
'Even when he struggled for pace in Silverstone, he still managed to bring home a podium finish. Despite having been disqualified from Qualifying in Monza, de Vries refused to let that hold him back – fighting through to achieved back-to-back third place finishes for the second time that season.'
Queen refused to let Stewart drive her and instead took F1 legend for a spin (The Mirror)
'She would have been a very good racing driver.'
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
As for T12, I was respecting the delta time under SC (expected speed during SC) approaching T12, the red flag was then displayed too late for me to react & brake safely with the tractor & marshal right on the racing line. (2/2)
— PIERRE GASLY 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) October 9, 2022
Firstly, huge congrats to Max on the title: very much deserved.
Secondly, thank you to the fans who stayed out in the rain. A shame we couldn’t make a better race of it, but your support was incredible.
Finally, a tractor should never be on a circuit when race cars are… never!
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) October 9, 2022
Should have been an instant red flag with a stricken car in a critical position in those conditions. Clearly debris on track too. Should NEVER EVER be a tractor on track until the cars are all collected up behind a safety car or in the pits. Gasly can’t take all the blame here
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) October 9, 2022
But how else can that car be recovered? I think the tractor can eventually come on track, when the field is bunched together, Safety car going at minimal speed in that area and all drivers are propperly informed about it. Otherwise we have a red flag every time a car is crashed?
— Antonio Felix da Costa (@afelixdacosta) October 9, 2022
The focus needs to be on the responsibility of that vehicle, whether it was a mistake (it can happen, sadly) or a deliberate call where there was a lack of understanding of how dangerous that situation was in these conditions. It can’t be a blanket approach for all weather…
— Jack Aitken – 한세용 (@JaitkenRacer) October 9, 2022
"It is imperative to prevent a car ever hitting the crane and/or the marshals working near it."
From the @FIA's report on the 2014 crash which claimed the life of @Jules_Bianchi:https://t.co/zdXsC4Lerp #F1 #JapaneseGP
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) October 9, 2022
Max lost the start, but recovered the position IMMEDIATELY through T1-T2 and on the OUTSIDE. Then he pulled away in the distance…I believe this is the perfect summary of how he has driven all year🔝Ahhh, and it was wet!!! 🌧 Worthy mega Champ, well done!🙌👏
— Pedro de la Rosa (@PedrodelaRosa1) October 9, 2022
The insanity of over an hours’ rain delay and then almost everyone switching to inters within moments
— Ben Evans (@bencommentator) October 9, 2022
Not a big fan of the dreaded F1 countdown clock. Why the need to complete a race in a three hour window? Fans stick it out and then only get to see 28 of the 53 laps when the circuit is fit for racing. #JapaneseGP
— James Roberts (@JRobertsF1) October 9, 2022
Cindric says Penske would only do a 4th car if the car had a legitimate chance to win and did not dilute the effort of the existing 3 cars. “If you just want to do Indy as an adventure, that’s not with us.”
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) October 9, 2022
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Another farcical Formula 1 title-decider did not go down well:
If a driver deserved to be champion this year, it was Max. Red Bull made a fantastic combo with Max and that car, and it was just a matter of time before Max was the champion this season. He was on fire.
But is was sad joke that for the second season in a row F1 managed to make a massive mess at the title clincher.
The fact that not even Max knew that they decided to award full points and so he was the new champion, tell a lot about the sad state of affairs.
The pinnacle of motor racing, the Mount Olympus of car engineering in racing, made cars unable to race under the rain, and the organisers are unable to made clear rules so everyone understand what’s is going on.
F1 became the WWE of motorsports.
@Ahoracio
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Mark Scott!
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
10th October 2022, 1:01
Congratulations Max. Sadly with all the half points or full points? / cranes on track / hours delay / throne room thing? etc. I hope it doesn’t detract from an utterly fantastic season and a very worthy champion. He has been brilliant this year. He has turned up at every round and basically been the man to beat without fail.
We can and often do argue about this or that – but there’s no doubt this year he has been in a class of his own. Hopefully next year someone push him a bit further (if possible). Wherever he is I hope he’s enjoying a glass of Sake or Beer with his feet up, he deserves it.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
10th October 2022, 2:09
No, Günther, they are rather easy.
Slow car -> early stop
Quick car -> later stop
You know which category your car fits into, all you need to do is act accordingly.
RatSack
10th October 2022, 5:16
To be fair, at the time I thought leaving MSC out on wets was the right call/gamble. So many cars transferring to inters on a still very wet track, I was amazed no one slipped off and caused a safety car or at least a yellow which they could exploit.
jff
10th October 2022, 8:06
You only have to look at McLaren last week to see how staying out can be advantageous.
No such luck this time.
S
10th October 2022, 8:58
Exactly this.
Haas openly admitted they were gambling on a SC – it just didn’t pay off.
If they’d got it though, they’d probably have finished in the points.
Well worth the risk, all things considered.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
10th October 2022, 2:39
I’ve said it before (admittedly before Seb started to become so outspoken about the environment) but I’d love to see him go to Super Formula when his F1 career is done. Powerful (and simple) cars, old-school Japanese circuits and a spread-out, undemanding calendar. He’d love it and would be a huge hit over there.
Of course, whether travelling to Japan half a dozen times a year reconciles with his beliefs is another matter, even if it’s an improvement from his current schedule.
S
10th October 2022, 7:53
7 race events per year – not including the reasonably intensive ongoing testing schedule, of course…
Jere (@jerejj)
10th October 2022, 11:50
@jackysteeg Yes, he could race in Suzuka again if he drove in SF, but relocating to Japan with his family would be a must & I doubt he’d be willing towards this.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
10th October 2022, 14:10
He certainly wouldn’t want that, but would he need to relocate? I’m pretty sure Lotterer remained Europe-based while he was doing both SF and Audi LMP1 duties full-time. Maybe I’m wrong.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
10th October 2022, 4:36
Man. I forgot de Vries is older than Verstappen. A calm Verstappen already is the scariest Verstappen. I think people should start saying winning in one team is least respectable than having many WDC for multiple teams. F1 need Verstappen to be not in the fastest car.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th October 2022, 7:58
But for the fans Max already told us he isn’t going to race in F1 forever and he could go doing different things after his Red Bull contract as he doesn’t want todo a Michiel or Lewis record. (I don’t think he is going to win 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028)
Wayne
10th October 2022, 8:48
Why have full wet tyrws if they dont use them. Pirelli need to design the tyres that they spray outwards not only upwards. Tracks need to be changed to allow for better water escape.
S
10th October 2022, 9:08
Pirelli need to defy the laws of physics to satisfy F1 fans?
That’s essentially what you are saying.
F1 need to accept that their constant fascination with being the fastest comes directly at the cost of versatility.
The tyres are wider now – which means they displace and lift more water.
The cars are longer and wider now – a larger object to punch through the air and more aerodynamic influence/disturbance.
They are now utilising more under-car aerodynamic downforce – lifting more water up off the track.
Most other series can race when/where F1 can’t/chooses not to.
The problem is with F1 and their priorities – not the circuits, and not the tyre supplier.
faulty (@faulty)
10th October 2022, 12:44
Well said.
F1 cars are downforce machines, they are as clumsy at 50 mph as they are twitchy on uneven track surfaces.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
10th October 2022, 9:56
It was wonderful to see Vettel operate at is old best once more. He can leave F1 as a worthy champion and a wonderful human being. On the other hand, this race also showed that Vettel’s best is much higher than his average performance in other races, so I think retiring from the sport is a sensible choice.
Qeki (@qeki)
10th October 2022, 10:13
I disagree with COTD. WWE is scripted. F1 has lost the plot a long time ago..
jff
10th October 2022, 11:47
Can I borrow that one and print it on a t-shirt?
Qeki (@qeki)
10th October 2022, 16:06
Well by all means
Qeki (@qeki)
10th October 2022, 11:49
It’s like F1 tries to be serious but it ends up being a sitcom but a horrible one. It’s like a movie which is too serious. F1 needs to relax and not try too much. It may have decresed the value of the sport. Still watching it costs even more than before. Imagine going to watch a consert which costed you £200 and at the end you weren’t sure was it the real one or a very well maked up singer who has the same voice as your favorite singer. You feel betrayed or at least confused. If F1 wants to be a comedy then they can go full Mario Kart but if they want to be serious they need to up their game. I’m not saying it’s easy but few last years feel more like Home Alone 4 rather than Home Alone 1.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th October 2022, 11:47
Firstly, regarding Russell’s tweet: Recovery vehicles have been on circuits simultaneously with racing cars many times, but always under SC since 2015, most recently in Monza, so the only thing needed is patience with when to send out such a vehicle.
The only issue was not waiting until everyone has passed Sainz’s stranded car before sending out the JCB.
Da Costa & Aitken are spot-on. I couldn’t agree more with them.
Re James Roberts’ tweet: Some upper limit is necessary, as races can’t last forever.
COTD is also spot-on.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
10th October 2022, 16:16
Steiner sabotaging Mick. Pretty clear Mick is out and still Steiner feels the need to underline why. If I was Haas I would sack Steiner as he is too worried about being right than actually doing right. Magnussen is an average driver with a bad temper, Haas needs a promissing line-up.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
10th October 2022, 16:17
If I was the strategist for Haas, or any team outside of the points, I would certainly have left Schumacher out on wet tyres. The chance of a crash from someone on inters and another race stoppage at that time was extremely high, and that would likely have been the end of the race if it had happened. So they could have got a podium out of it (not full points, but still a podium) and the only risk was finishing 18th rather than just outside the points. It was the right call, in my opinion.